Quotes of the day

posted at 8:42 pm on October 12, 2012 by Allahpundit

Vice President Joe Biden’s repeated laughter during Thursday’s debate was a reflection of the “enormous amount of passion and joy” he brings to the job of serving the American people, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Friday…

“The person I saw up there last night is somebody who is absolutely passionate about fighting for and defending the middle class… and who comes to his job — this many years in to serving his country in the Senate and now to the White House — with an enormous amount of passion and joy,” Carney said…

“Setting aside assessments of winners and losers,” he said, “As someone who worked with the vice president for two years and traveled with him around the country and the world, I took extreme pleasure in watching the debate last night because of the way that he demonstrated his passion and his wisdom and the joy that he brings to the job of serving the American people as vice president.”

***

Last week Mr. Obama was weirdly passive. Last night Mr. Biden was weirdly aggressive, if that is the right word for someone who grimaces, laughs derisively, interrupts, hectors, rolls his eyes, browbeats and attempts to bully. He meant to dominate, to seem strong and no-nonsense. Sometimes he did—he had his moments. But he was also disrespectful and full of bluster. “Oh, now you’re Jack Kennedy!” he snapped at one point. It was an echo of Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle, in 1988. But Mr. Quayle, who had compared himself to Kennedy, had invited the insult. Mr. Ryan had not. It came from nowhere. Did Mr. Biden look good? No, he looked mean and second-rate. He meant to undercut Mr. Ryan, but he undercut himself. His grimaces and laughter were reminiscent of Al Gore’s sighs in 2000—theatrical, off-putting and in the end self-indicting…

National Democrats keep confusing strength with aggression and command with sarcasm. Even the latter didn’t work for Mr. Biden. The things he said had the rhythm and smirk of sarcasm without the cutting substance.

And so the Romney-Ryan ticket emerged ahead. Its momentum was neither stopped nor slowed and likely was pushed forward.

***

It will be the crowning irony of the No Drama Obama campaign that it took a man who exudes more drama than a decade of Latin American soap operas to get Democrats out of their funk…

At the same time, my in-box was filled with a certain number of people who would be happy if they could spend the next few weeks delivering some punches to Biden, and not just Republicans. What do independents want most? They want people who will practice a more respectful brand of politics, who will behave the way most Americans try to behave in their dealings: respectfully, maybe even pausing to listen for a second. To them, Biden will seem like an off-putting caricature of the worst of old-style politics…

A lot of people will look at Biden’s performance and see a style of politics that makes complex trade-offs impossible. The people who think this way swing general elections.

***

Whereas President Obama’s smile during his debate with Mitt Romney seemed to be an afterthought, proffered as recompense to relieve the strain of his lackluster performance, Vice President Biden’s was an Uzi. From the time he sat down next to Paul Ryan, he was locked and loaded with the pearliest chompers since Matt Dillon donned horse veneers to impress Cameron “There’s Something About Mary” Diaz…

Biden’s smile, though it may be the most remembered part of the debate, probably didn’t work as intended. Democrats may have overlooked the inauthenticity of the smile, not to mention Biden’s repeated interruptions, because he was projecting the aggression they were feeling. As their agent, he was compensating for the president’s perceived weakness. The anger they feel is really toward Obama, of course; Ryan was merely his stand-in.

***

The Democrats cheering on Biden’s bullying, while ignoring the fact that he had nothing to offer on the future of entitlements and his disgraceful alibis about Libya, did so because at bottom they really do not feel Republicans or conservatives are worthy of respect or decency. Though they rarely own up to it, they don’t think Republicans are so much wrong as they are bad. By contrast, most Republicans think Democrats are wrong, not evil. Ryan, whose polite behavior was entirely proper but was made to appear passive and even weak when compared to his bloviating opponent, demonstrated this paradigm by patiently trying to explain his positions even when he was constantly interrupted…

The problem here is not just that presidents and would-be commanders-in-chief must appear presidential. It is that the liberal base of the president’s party is so filled with anger and contempt for Republicans that they can’t abide even a show of civility from their champions.

***

Biden aimed to throw the Obama base a lifeline. He fed the Kos Kidz desperate need for to see some fight, but at the cost of his remaining (and mostly notional) dignity. If you want a gibbering, snorting, mumbling clown with a rictus-grin locked on his mug a heartbeat away from controlling America’s nuclear arsenal, Joe Biden’s your guy…

The conventional wisdom this morning is that the debate was a tie. That conventional wisdom is (as is so often the case) dead wrong. Biden played to his base, trying to dig Obama out of the hole he’s been trapped in since last week’s debate trainwreck. Ryan played to the center, to the swing and to the late-engagers. The post-hoc coverage won’t factor into their decisions: the pictures and Biden’s mugging, drunk-uncle affect will. (Also, Biden opened several new, Costco-scale cans of worms for the Administration on the Libya scandal.)

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Also funny that you’re favorite rhetorical devise is a pathetic echo of discredited 50′s fearmongers.

Before I started visiting here, I thought people as stupid as this had all died out or taken up reality TV as a hobby. It’s like seeing a dinosaur.

urban elitist on October 13, 2012 at 8:34 AM

Subversives are now inside of the government and bringing it down from within. The fact that you don’t see this makes you either one of them or too stupid to engage. The punk in the WH has failed to do anything in the ME other than stand back and let radicals run wild. At least Bush had it concentrated to the two theaters of operation.

But Bush was just a blustery preppie full of tough talk as he tried to overcompensate for dodging Vietnam

urban elitist on October 13, 2012 at 8:22 AM

Are you still going to post here after Obama loses?

Please do, because it will be fun to hear all your excuses. While the country celebrates with President-Elect Romney, people like you will be reduced to posting wannabe-provocative, hateful, cliched left-wing insults on conservative websites like this one.

bluegill on October 13, 2012 at 8:37 AM

In other words, I nailed. Stings, no?

And, yes.

Until the inevitable drunk post that gets me banned, anyway.

Off on my rounds —

TD — good luck on the range, hope it’s outdoors. Be a great day to be out shooting here, if it weren’t for the pedestrians and tourists and stuff. Hope is there, as well.

You forget your party’s core belief: that Republicans are so tough that no Russkie would dare invade his neighbor. And that posturing gasbaggery will scare them off.

urban elitist on October 13, 2012 at 8:40 AM

While a thoroughly partisan misrepresentation of core Republican beliefs, I’ll take that over having more flexibility with negotiations with our most implacable international foe for the last 90 years.

Ryan, whose polite behavior was entirely proper but was made to appear passive and even weak when compared to his bloviating opponent, demonstrated this paradigm by patiently trying to explain his positions even when he was constantly interrupted…

I don’t think Ryan appeared weak. Imagine yourself trapped in an elevator with a lunatic. That was what it was like for Ryan. Arguing with crazy people is a waste of time. I think Ryan was wondering what is next? Is Biden going to get naked, jump on the table and start doing the hoochie koochie? I know I would not have been surprised. That is how odd Biden looked.

As you’ve noticed the last few weeks, as Obama/Biden swirl down the porcelain receptacle, more and more Troll Sleeper Cells will be activated, and those Trolls who have been here awhile will attempt whatever they can to hijack threads and slow Romney/Ryan’s momentum.

It won’t work. The Sleeping Giant has been awakened. And he’s torqued off.

That sums up that debate perfectly. I’ve been in the same situation with my designer’s husband, a Democratic activist, who employs the same tactics to overwhelm his opponent. The prevarications are so many and of such a frequency that the only way to avoid them is to simply let him go on and on, exposing himself for the obnoxious guy he really is.

The only thing Ryan couldn’t do that I can was to shake his head. I can’t help but think he really wanted to though.

You are boring. Never really noticed you until this morning. I think you may be wasting your time on here. For your own sake, you should try actually engaging in conversation with people, as libfree is often able to do, because I don’t think your insulting approach is accomplishing anything. Besides, your cliched insults just seem copied-and-pasted from a huffington post comment section.

I watched the debate with some Dems, and they were embarrassed of Biden. If people didn’t know what a buffoon Biden was before the debate, they sure as heck know now.

It’s interesting to see some Obama supporters pretend to be happy with Biden’s act. They actually think this is going to stop Obama’s continued decline and save his chances. Oh, well… I say let them live in denial. The fact that something unhelpful like this can get them happy shows how desperate they are right now for any sign of possibly good news.

I would be embarrassed to have to admit publicly that I support Obama. The man has been exposed as an overrated incompetent fairytale media creation whose 2008 propaganda hype campaign seems like a bad joke right now. To support Obama you have to ignore reality. No wonder so many Obama voters feel so defensive and on their own feel the need to make excuses for the guy whenever they declare their support.

But Bush was just a blustery preppie full of tough talk as he tried to overcompensate for dodging Vietnam

urban elitist on October 13, 2012 at 8:22 AM

Look candyass.. he flew night intercepts off the Texas Coast When Russian Bear Bomber’s probbed our Air Defense Ring during the cold war part of Vietnam..

His own commander verified he volunteered several times for duty in Vietnam, but was denied, because the Pentagon didn’t want to retrain F-102 pilots to fly different combat types.. They didn’t have the support in place there for that aircraft, it was a limited run intercepter..

and when you can land an infamous widow maker like the F-102 at night.. to brush off Bear’s..

You are boring. Never really noticed you until this morning. I think you may be wasting your time on here. For your own sake, you should try actually engaging in conversation with people, as libfree is often able to do, because I don’t think your insulting approach is accomplishing anything. Besides, your cliched insults just seem copied-and-pasted from a huffington post comment section.

bluegill on October 13, 2012 at 8:54 AM

Have these people ever thought about manners, or learned what it means to have good interpersonal communications skills?

Anyone who applauds Biden’s shameful, disruptive behavior proves to be uninterested in civility. urban elitist is a liar to say otherwise.

You forget your party’s core belief: that Republicans are so tough that no Russkie would dare invade his neighbor. And that posturing gasbaggery will scare them off.

urban elitist on October 13, 2012 at 8:40 AM

While a thoroughly partisan misrepresentation of core Republican beliefs, I’ll take that over having more flexibility with negotiations with our most implacable international foe for the last 90 years.

Cleombrotus on October 13, 2012 at 8:45 AM

Oh yeah.. these democrat chickenhawks are so frigging TOUGH now?…

They have done nothing but suck up to and kiss the ring of every Soviet/Russian leader since 1979..

and How’d that work out for them..

They let an old republican, beat the Soviets in the cold war.. then spend every minute since, telling us.. they coulda done it so much.. better..

lol……….

When these lightweight armchair generals get off their lazy butts and run PT in the morning to a rousing chant of..

“When I die in a Russian Sea.. Honey oh Honey,
When I die in a Russian Sea oh babe.. oh babe..”

I’ll be friggin impressed..

till then, Urban Sophist..

I’d lay off the “pipsqueak” bluster, Ryan looked strong and disciplined compared to your raging (been WRONG on every issue since 73) Biden.. and his glowing porcelain tooth cap display..

Biden’s comical childishness, constant interruptions, and hubris revealed him to be a lover of maturity and virtue, didn’t they?

You yourself are an unserious, whiny, abusive hypocrite, who, if you possessed cognitive intelligence, would understand that it would be wise for you to shut up until you could reasonably demonstrate that you aren’t walking around obliviously wearing your double-standards on your sleeves for all the world to see. Too bad for the world that you lack the required talent to be able to do that!

Just remember all the triumphalism on the Left is because of Joe Biden.

They are happy about Joe Biden, the least serious man in politics, who was sent out to rile them up.

No matter how happy the Left is, remember they are happy about Joe Biden… it is all they have left to show for their support of Obama and ideals that are bankrupting the Nation not just fiscally but morally and spiritually as well.

As Eastwood said – Biden the man who is a smile with a body behind it.

And the best part is that as people begin to see that Obama & Co. are tanking, the economy will improve. Remember what happened in OCT 2008? Gun sales went through the roof and small businesses began to pull back expansion plans, curtail future investments and set down to weather the storm.

The Left will attempt to claim vindication. Yet it is the course of events that the PEOPLE are doing that will change the course of the Nation. Not our freaking government. This the Left will never, ever understand, and they will attack you for the very idea that people should be free, actually CAN be free to lead a better life without the interference of government. Once this course begins to change this time, with the memory of what happened by not backing it fully under Reagan, this time it will start to sweep away all our notions of politics, education, energy, and production like no other time in history. The PEOPLE are about to declare the 20th century over and the 19th century ideas of the Left as done with. The Left wants Americans to be ordinary plebes, yet we hold the eternal truths as self-evident and we will be extra-ordinary citizens creating a better Nation so that all mankind will have a beacon to look up to and a standard to flock to.

That means holding ALL your elected officials to account: from dog catcher to President. We slacked off as a people and let our parties try to run things. That era not only can end but it must end and it is ending NOW. A Romney win is not something to then walk away from, but a reason to hold to your ideals and to keep on pushing at all levels of government to recognize your rights and liberties to be free FROM government and that we, the people, will take care of the rest of the stuff that we specifically do NOT hand over to government: caring for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the young, and our society. That is my job, your job and the job of all our fellow citizens, and we dare not let government even try to do them.

Why? Look where we are NOW that we HAVE let government even try to do them. This is the result.

An election is not an end goal but a statement from you of re-dedication to the cause of liberty and accountable government. It is the start of the process, not the end of it, which means it re-starts with each and every election.

Remember Joe Biden is all the Left has: the laughing spirit of derision against you, against liberty, against freedom, and meant to belittle our fellow citizens and our Nation to say that we are too stupid to lead our own lives freely. The man is an insult to us all.

You can’t get rid of stupid as it is one of the two infinites of the natural universe that Einstein coupled with space, and he wasn’t too sure about space.

But you can, assuredly, vote stupid out of office.

That task STARTS with an election.

And re-starts with each and every election at each and every level thereafter.

I am happy to vote in every election. It is my way to help safeguard freedom and liberty and it is my duty and job to do so. That doesn’t mean I have a light mood at each election and it is usually just the opposite: I keep my eye on the target through all the maelstrom so the deed that must be done is accomplished. Elections are too serious to get emotionally involved in. A duty, a job, and your means to safeguard freedom and liberty… a happy task but an earnest job not taken lightly.

I would love for a Biden/Ryan debate rematch. Sucks we get only one. Why, I wonder? Has it always been this way?

Romney is not Ryan. Romney is keen to handling biased moderators and is naturally aggressive, unlike Ryan. Not saying anything bad towards Ryan–he held his own, just didn’t do an effective job of LIVE fact-checking Biden (this is crucial for our team during debates, the media won’t do it). And yeah, he needed to get up in Biden’s face more, how Ryan restrained himself I don’t know.

You can’t allow yourself to get rolled on national TV like this. Especially when it’s one shot you’re given. Another thing Newt demonstrated is that you absolutely must wrest debate control from sneaky little Lib moderators, very respectfully and forcefully take control of debate like Romney did the first debate. The deck is too heavily stacked against us and you gotta seize the opportunity. Gonna chuck it to Ryan’s lack of debate experience and his being so mild-mannered and serious, not one who excites too easily.

Romney is the opposite. It’s why career politicians who never ran lemonade stands despise running against sharp, no-nonsense CEO’s who are quick on their feet and know how to close deals very persuasively.

only a shameless demohack shill would describe a major and glaring example of a mood disorder (especially one with such an aggressive slant) as an expression of joy rather than as a symptom of a psychological disturbance. and this doesn’t even take into consideration sloppy joe’s impulse control issues- he’s been known to tell al gore league whoppers about his personal achievements as well.

the man has been symptomatic of operating under a psychological disturbance for some time- he might not himself be even able to control it- he might be unaware of it. that those around them would prop up someone flagrantly displaying such very troublesome inappropriate affect is both a cruelty to him and a disservice to the american people. we deserve a vice president not in the throes of such disfunction- a disfunction on display to the nation and cheered as somehow normal and passionate instead of abnormal and disturbed.

it speaks volumes that democrats could describe his performance as acceptable in any manner. he should be encouraged to seek professional help not shined on as a warrior for their lust for power. they really are mentally ill themselves generating such fanciful spin on a condition that is both worrisome and pathetic- and dangerous in someone who could in a blink become president.

The punk in the WH has failed to do anything in the ME other than stand back and let radicals run wild. At least Bush had it concentrated to the two theaters of operation.

Rio Linda Refugee on October 13, 2012 at 8:41 AM

You must be kidding. The PUNK has actively engaged in diminishing the US influence/presence in the ME and N. Africa, and elsewhere. He actively supports the ‘blooming’ of the Muzzie Brotherhood Spring. He is their leader. Wake up America.